Natasha Alexandra Maciel is a new student at Clairemont High School and she moved to San Diego from Caldas Novas, Brazil. Her recent move has made her realize that starting over is not completely negative.

“It is not the end of the world,” she constantly reminds herself.

Family is a complicated subject for Natasha; she believes that family comes first but she does not think you should change yourself to satisfy your family members. She has pushed away a couple of family members due to what she believes and for a couple other reasons.

“You can love your family, but not necessarily want them in your life,” she said.

When it comes to friends, Natasha does not think they are needed, she will not go out of her way to befriend everyone just so she can prove something to herself and others. However, never will anyone catch her turning her back to someone who seeks her friendship.

Natasha’s best friend would confirm that she is a very complicated individual who might come off as mean and antisocial, but that is far from the truth. In reality, Natasha is actually a very happy and talkative person once someone gets to know her.

Natasha said, “I am cold and angry on the outside, but bubbly and friendly on the inside.”

Her interests include jiu-jitsu and basketball; what she has learned from her these activities is discipline and patience.

She said, “The goal (in jiu-jitsu) is not to kill them but to hurt them just enough to make them tap out.”

These activities have made her understand that she has to know how to pick and choose her battles and that without dedication and hard work she will never get better at something.

“Nothing is impossible if you try hard enough,” she explained.

Natasha’s interests play a big role in the way she thinks and expresses herself. She will continue to use these activities to help her throughout high school and college by letting her know when and when not to take her anger out on someone and how to do so in the right way.

After high school, Natasha would like to go to college and then become a forensic pathologist. She would like to become this due to the fact that she likes solving mysteries and death does not make her uneasy.

Natasha said, “It must be so satisfying to finally have all the facts laid out right in front of you after wondering what they were for so long.”

She hopes to improve her writing skills to feel comfortable with a keyboard like she used to. Another hope she has is to become a good journalist who has good ideas and is not afraid to write what she thinks.

Natasha feels extremely lucky to be able to be in the position she is in and looks forward to spending a lot of time in journalism. She also hopes to stay in journalism until she leaves high school.